His book is not doing well. Bad reviews are swarming in. “Communion” looks to be a flap, although there are good reviews on Amazon. Hmmmm. Did they yank all the bad reviews? Because he *is* the VP, and Jeff Bezos is a big supporter in the US. They also have an in with Trump because Bezos makes the big bucks and lavishly donates to him. But still, the point seems to be that the book, well, sucks. And that has to be embarrassing. The only thing that might save him is if he gets some help from MAGA, but that’s iffy. With appreciation for Raw Story:
Vice President JD Vance’s new book was released this week to reviews from professional critics that did not hold back – with The Wall Street Journal arguing it was filled with “egregious sloppiness.” The amateur critics took it even further, flooding the book’s page on the Barnes & Noble website with one-star reviews. Of the 29 reviews of the book, titled “Communion,” 25 rated it with one star, and four rated it with five stars.
Yikes. Ouch. When was the last time anyone rated something with one star? Not just books, any review? A long time. The only way to rate something lower would be to not rate it at all, but that won’t give someone something that someone else might need to know. When you hear about reviews that are that bad on the first day it’s out, well, that just says “nope” in big, block letters. There’s no reason to buy it. On the contrary, you might want to avoid it.
“JD’s take on faith and religion is at odds with his behavior and speech in his everyday life,” reads another one-star review from verified reviewer “Karen S.” “I don’t recommend this book. Glad to have public libraries so I didn’t have to buy this book to see what he had to say.” //// And verified reviewer “Evelyn B.” expressed hope that Vance’s book would “end up on a list of far-right propaganda for future generations” as a reminder of what they called the current “embarrassing era of American politics.”
Scorched! Yep, those reviews were pretty poor. It does not give out any warm, fuzzy feelings of confidence. I wouldn’t even get it at the library after just those two reviews, and I read a *lot*, as does my husband. He read “Hillbilly Elegy,” and I didn’t make it past the first chapter. Finding out that it was essentially a lie, I’m sorry to have spent money on it. Some personal stuff is in this tonight because I write to speak to you folks, but there are some circumstances like this one when a personal voice is needed. Moving along…
“Poorly written, unbelievable trash written by the most vile and despised humans on this earth,” they wrote. “His claim to Catholicism is a meager grab at trying to convey worthiness in a world where the denomination has severely rejected him, and the Pope himself denounces his fascist agenda.” The online reviews for Vance’s new book have been so negative that at least two online book-selling websites have “limited or suspended” them, including Amazon and Goodreads, according to the Daily Beast.
Okay, I mostly found 5-star reviews on Amazon when I went to look. There is no apparent restriction on it. See comment about Bezos above. I have no desire to be anywhere close to that book. Other people can have my share. Now, yes, it could be better than it sounds, but I (and anyone else) have no desire to try. JD Vance’s book is an expensive flop. It didn’t have much redeemable about it. As an attempt to show his religious leanings, as if he considers those failed. Just another day in the life of America.
See you soon!
Friends, I know everybody begs you for money. I promise you that, of all the outlets bugging you for spare change, we are the smallest and the hardest-working. We’re a bunch of old, disabled people, except one writer in his mid-50s. But the rest of us are in our sixties and seventies, and this is a labor of love. All we’re asking for is the ability to continue our quest to tell the truth about Trump and help ensure democracy survives. If you can help, please do. Thank you. Ursula
““Communion” looks to be a flap, although there are good reviews on Amazon. Hmmmm. Did they yank all the bad reviews? . . . Okay, I mostly found 5-star reviews on Amazon when I went to look. There is no apparent restriction on it.”
Apparently, you don’t quite understand how restrictions work when it comes to reviews. It’s very easy for a review site (like Amazon) to block negative or 1-star reviews to “protect” certain authors or books on the basis of preventing “review bombing.” (That’s a practice where films, music or books typically get negative reviews without the reviewer’s status being “verified” by the reviewing site. Sites like RottenTomatoes.com have tried to put in requirements that would limit negative reviews for reasons that have nothing to do with the actual work in question though some are questionable as to their efficacy; RottenTomatoes, for instance, at one point, wanted scans of ticket stubs that would prove the reviewer had some evidence of showing up for the film rather than posting a negative review of some slasher film simply because you don’t like slasher films and would never watch one.)
Now, most of the 1- and 2-star reviews will probably show up in the next month or so (most “review bombings” tend to happen within the first couple of days of release) after the “moderators” of the site have had a chance to weed out the *real* bad reviews from the “bombings.”
To an extent, it’s like a website that, after you post a comment, it’s sent to “moderation” because there might be something about the comment that might “offend” others* and someone will check for content that violates TOS or is irrelevant to the topic, etc. If everything checks out, the comment will post and, depending on the volume of comments received, it may take a few minutes or a few days to post. But, too many comments that go to moderation might lead to a temporary ban or restriction on your ability to post a comment. Some of the review sites might even hold off posting negative reviews (or ratings) if you’re not a member of the site while positive feedback from non-members is added immediately; negative reviews from members will typically get posted but may still be moderated for a short time to ensure the review isn’t part of a “review bomb.”
*Recently, I had to deal with AOL rejecting a comment I made on a story about Drumpf planning on refusing to aid states with their unemployment claims over “fraud” issues and I posted a comment that was strong but wouldn’t offend anyone with a functional brain cell and the comment was challenged at first, giving me the chance to rewrite the comment–with zero suggestions as to what was “offensive”–and I clicked “post anyway” and it was rejected so I filed a challenge and, lo and behold, within 10 minutes, I got an email saying the comment had been reviewed and, shock of shocks, ACCEPTED; my challenge pretty much questioned AOL’s own bias towards anyone posting negative criticism of Drumpf or his administration–apparently, my challenge must’ve hit home just a bit).
*blink*blink* wow have MY eyes been opened! At least I’m not horribly embarrassed. Thank you very much for the information! And congrats on your AOL win 😉 😉